Students dive into research

Saturday

Feb 27, 2010 at 4:15 PM

Steve Fry

Wearing a hoop skirt and carrying an oriental folding fan of a British countess of the 1830s, 15-year-old Amanda Pierson had immersed herself in research to become Ada Lovelace, who wrote a world-changing essay more than 100 years ahead of its time.

Pierson, a freshman at Washburn Rural High School, was one of 250 northeast Kansas students who competed Saturday in the Kansas District 3 History Day. District 3 is made up of about nine counties, including middle schools and high schools in Shawnee County. The topic this year is "Innovation in History."

Students from sixth to 12th grades attending private and public schools, as well home-school students, are invited to enter, said Rachel Goosen, History Day coordinator. Goosen also is a history professor at Washburn University, which hosted History Day.

A History Day competitor chooses a topic, then must be able to articulate it to the three judges, Goosen said.

Lovelace translated another mathematician's essay from French into English about an analytical engine of math equations and greatly expanded it. Pierson's first-person program is 10 minutes long, but as late as Friday night, it was five minutes too long.

"I was very, very worried because I was running over," she said Saturday. "So I had to rewrite it last night and memorized it last night."

Written about 1832, the Lovelace essay was used to create the Java and Ada computer programs, Pierson said. The U.S. Department of Defense developed the Ada software program and named it for Lovelace.

"She thought way ahead of her time," Pierson said. "I looked at the timeline, and it was remarkable she could think of this at age 17." If Lovelace were alive now, "she would be the female Bill Gates."

Lovelace, the daughter of Lord Byron, had interests in mathematics, science, the arts and writing, Pierson said. Lovelace married William King, they had three children, and she died of cancer at age 36.

Another History Day entrant was Jesse Mechler, 13, who made an exhibit board, "Sesame Street: Learnin' with the Street Gang." Mechler said her project explained how "Sesame Street" changed children's TV.

Mechler chose her exhibit because, as a baby sitter, she would watch a lot of children's shows.

"I like how they do things, how they teach through TV," Mechler said.

Mechler's exhibit used primary colors, Big Bird, a font similar to that used on the show, and a measuring stick to illustrate the program's timeline. Her project took about six months.

Youths compete either as middle school or high school students and enter one of five categories: research paper, exhibits, performances, documentaries, and Web sites. This is only the second year for the Web site category.

First- and second-place winners in each category will compete in the 2010 Kansas History Day on April 17 at Washburn. Winners from that contest will move to the 2010 National History Day Competition in June at the University of Maryland in College Park, Md.

Steve Fry either can be reached at (785) 295-1206 or at steve.fry@cjonline.com.

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